DIY Hershey's Kisses Flower Favor

We went to a bridal expo when we were planning our wedding and there was a booth giving out this adorable Hershey's Kisses flower. I can't remember who was manning the booth, so it wasn't nearly as effective as the flower shaped pewter coffee scoop we received from a florist (and we actually ended up using that shop, coincidentally).

But the Hershey's Kisses flower was so cute that I had to deconstruct it and create a post of it. It was really easy to make so you can make a ton of them as favors pretty quickly. You can sit them as a bouquet at every seat or make them for your flower girl to use during the rehearsal.

DIY Hershey's Kisses Flower

What You'll Need:

• Glue or Glue Dots
• Pink cellophane (cut into 4x4 squares)
• Hershey's Kisses
• Green Pipe Cleaners

What You'll Do:

 

Put a dab of glue on one of the Hershey's Kisses or affix a Glue Dot there. If you use a dab of glue, these won't be edible anymore; if you use a Glue Dot, they are still safe to eat.

Stick it to a second Hershey's Kiss and wait for the glue to dry.


Wrap the cellophane around the Hershey's Kisses.

Gather it at the bottom and twist the pipe cleaner around to close it.

Done. Like I said: Easy. If you wanted, you could get different colors of cellophane so you can match your wedding colors.
BRIDAL BABBLE: What would you use this DIY Hershey's Kisses Flower Favor for?

Guest Book Idea

Have you thought about a guest book yet? My mom made us a photo foam board and people signed it at our engagement party (well, except for the one person who merely just scribbled all over it).

I'm trying to think of ways that we be a little more creative with our wedding guest book.

Sure, you can buy a wedding guest book on Amazon, but those remind me so much of the ones that you use at funerals. And okay, yes, a wedding is a funeral for your single life, but I want something happier, something more personal.

A photo book, perhaps?

Shutterfly actually has a whole page dedicated to wedding photo books. There are examples of ones to tell your proposal story, ones for guest books, ones for wedding photos, and ones for honeymoon photos. This is great for any stage of your wedding/wedded life. I absolutely love the idea of making a guest book with your engagement photos. It's a nice way to get a bit more use from them, plus have a photo book that isn't filled with selfies.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What is your favorite guest book idea?

Why You Should Book A Limo For Your Wedding (and what you should ask before booking)

I went with my friend to a bridal expo and sat inside a limo.

"Do you need transportation?" asked Amanda, the owner of Event Shuttle Service.

"Yes," I said. "But it's sort of a logistical nightmare."

"Let me grab a pen," Amanda said, opening to a blank page in her notebook. "Okay. Go."

So I told her I needed a limo to pick up Pete and his groomsmen (for a total, at that time, nine) from a hotel, drive them to the church (in a different town, across a bridge), (come back across that bridge to the town where the guys were) pick me and my bridesmaids up (at that time, nine), drive us to the church (you know, on the other side of the bridge), then all 18 or so of us would need to be driven around to take photos and then to the reception (which is across a different bridge).

"That's all?" Amanda said. "That's not bad."

It was so refreshing to know that transportation for our bridal party was not bad. And someone else's problem. All I had to do was tell Amanda where and when and a limo was there waiting.

But it got better, really.

Amanda said she would send a smaller Mercedes Benz sprinter limo to pick the bridal party up and bring everyone to the church. Then, when the ceremony was happening, the driver would bring the limo (and all our bags) back to the depot. Another driver would load our stuff into an XL sprinter and would be waiting for us after the ceremony. Amanda had a specific second driver in mind. He had done weddings numerous times before and would be able to take us somewhere for amazing post-ceremony photos.

This is us and the first driver, Theresa.

I was so happy with all  that.

But we didn't stop with just booking for the bridal party. Since almost all of our guests were from out of town and staying at the same hotel, we rented two sprinters to go to and from the hotel bringing guests to the wedding. The sprinters would return after the reception to bring guests back.

Amanda assured me that even though we booked the limos until 11:15pm, they wouldn't strand any guests.

This is Pete and our second driver.

Everything went smoothly.

Theresa from Event Shuttle Service picked the guys up in a limo stocked with beverages, drove them to the church, and then we were picked up. At the church, before the ceremony started, one of my bridesmaids looked at me. "Um," she said, "I left the rings in the limo."

I was zen bride. I wasn't stressing over anything.

"We'll just call the driver and ... " I paused. No. We wouldn't be doing that. Her number was in my phone. And my phone, along with the bag with our rings, was in the limo. All my bridesmaids' phones ... in their purses ... in the limo.

Enter our photographer to the rescue. She googled Event Shuttle Service and handed me the phone. To my surprise, Amanda was there and answered the phone. I told her the situation. "No problem," she said. "I'll call the driver and tell her to turn back around." And minutes later, Theresa was back with the rings.

Around 11:45pm -- a solid half hour after our rental time was over -- I was heading up to our hotel room with a friend. And I saw Theresa again.

"I just wanted to make sure everyone was back to the hotel already. Or do you have guests who still need a ride?" she asked. Everyone is back, I told her, and thanked her for staying the extra time.

The next day, my mom told me everyone was so impressed with the shuttles. Not only did it assure that our guests didn't need a designated driver and could enjoy our open bar, the shuttles were stocked with soda and water. At the end of the night, the drivers told our guests to take the rest of the drinks in the coolers. I didn't pay extra for that. It was just really, really great customer service. I was so impressed with Event Shuttle Service (so impressed that this post about why you should book a limo has basically turned into a love letter).

But, the question remains: Should you book a limo for your wedding?

Yes. Absolutely yes.

Why You Should Book A Limo For Your Wedding

1. No one drives drunk.

If you're going to have an open bar, you're going to have guests who are drinking. Don't worry about finding them a designated driver or cutting them off so they can drive home. You already booked the driver. Just be sure to let them know before the wedding that you will have a shuttle for them. It'll cost you a couple bucks, of course, but it's worth it.

2. You don't have to drive.

You have so much on your mind already, so much to keep track of and so much to do. Just let someone else take care of the driving (and any potential crisis). 

3. Your whole bridal party can travel together.

If you don't book a limo, everyone has to take different cars. Unless you drive a bus, your party will have to split up in cars. This way, everyone can hang out and travel together.

What You Should Ask Before You Book A Limo For Your Wedding

1. Is the company insured?

We have an entire post here about how to find out if your limo company is insured. You absolutely need to make sure of this before you even think about booking.

2. How much does it cost?

Find out about any costs, plus any additional costs. If you add on hours at the last minute, what rate are you charged? And definitely call around town. We talked to a few companies to get quotes and the prices varied greatly. Event Shuttle Service offered us the best service for the best price. Seriously, the price we paid was less than half what any other company quoted me -- and most wouldn't switch vehicles for us. 

3. Can I see the vehicle before I book?

Most major companies will be at various wedding expos, so you'll be able to see them there. But if for some reason you skip the expos, you can head to the company's headquarters and check out the vehicles for yourself. If for some reason they say no, that's a big red flag. You want to make sure you're getting a quality limo.

And don't forget to tip your drivers. When we called Theresa to bring the rings back, my first thought was, "Thank goodness we tipped her when she left." I'm sure she would have come back either way, but it made me feel better about asking her to turn around. Plus, the drivers are taking care of you. You should tip them to say thank you.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Did you book your wedding transportation yet?

Tips For The Perfect Wedding Guest List

Creating a guest list can be really tricky. It's hard to figure out who needs to be on the list, who should be on the list, and who doesn't make the cut.

Before we started planning our wedding, we put together a guest list. We based it off our engagement party list, so it was pretty easy for us. But if you would ask me now, I would tell you to choose your venue before your guest list. Even without putting one on paper, you'll have an idea of how many guests you'll probably invite. Carry that estimate with you to venues. If you find a venue that you are absolutely in love with and find out its max capacity is 100 people , it's much easier to create a guest list of 120 and stop there because that list will give you your perfect venue's capacity rather than to create a list of 130, then find a venue that only holds 100, and try to figure out which ten people are getting the bump.

Trust me on this.

And you can trust me on a few other things too. Below, I have a list of tips for the perfect wedding guest list. If you follow these rules, it'll make your life so much easier.

Tips For The Perfect Wedding Guest List

1. No exes at the wedding.

I don't care how close you are with your ex. Maybe you send Christmas cards or maybe you're just Facebook friends. Either way, exes at a wedding don't work. Even if they just come as friends.

Let me tell you a little story about "just friends." I had a best friend. Let's call him Jack (because that's not his name and I guess you're supposed to protect people when you tell a story about them on the Internet). Jack was my very best friend in the whole world. We dated briefly ten years before this story happened, broke up, lost touch, got back in touch, and just had the kind of friendship that movies are made of. We never went on dates, never held hands, never kissed. It was just a very good friendship where he would come over to clean a parking violation sticker off my car window and I would go with him when he went to get tattooed. When I was in the relationship I was in before Pete, Jack was with me through the ups and downs. He promised me we would be best friends forever and he would go to my wedding "even only as a guest." Which is a weird thing to say to someone you're completely platonic with. Except, well, his feelings weren't. He was my very best friend and I was the person he was in love with. Awkward.

When I started dating Pete, Jack was crushed (which was odd to me until I realized he was in love with me) and stopped talking to me. I didn't have to worry about leaving him off the guest list and making up an excuse. But really, the simple thing is: No exes at the wedding. It's just messy, even if you can't see that right away.

2. Let your parents invite their friends, but only if you know them.

Your wedding is a celebration, and it's also one for your parents. Their kid is getting married. They're super happy and want to celebrate with their friends, just as much as you do. And they should be allowed to. Let them invite their friends. Chances are, you probably grew up with those people in their lives and their kids are your non-blood family.

But what about your dad's friend, Jim from Accounting. Have you met Jim from Accounting? If not, then no. Jim doesn't get an invite. There's not much more awkward than standing on your receiving line and having someone you don't recognize coming up to you saying, "Congratulations. What a beautiful ceremony. You look like such a happy couple. Oh. By the way. I'm your dad's friend. Jim. From Accounting."

Yes, your parents will want to invite people and that's okay. But if you haven't met them before the invitations went out, it's okay to cut them.

3. When you do make a list, keep in on Google Docs.

I am absolutely obsessed with Google Docs for weddings. It's so helpful. Everything is saved on Google Drive, which means you can access it from any computer at any time. If you have a Microsoft Word document with your guest list saved to your hard drive ... and then your laptop crashes, your guest list is gone.

True story. From my wedding planning.

Through our entire wedding planning process, anything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was a really good learning experience and has definitely helped me problem solve for brides and anticipate what could happen. But really, losing my laptop with our wedding guest list saved on it ... that happened to me. So go with Google Docs. You can access it from anywhere and you can share the documents with anyone too. It's awesome.

4. Invite those out of town relatives who you know won't make it.

When you're making your guest list, you have to account for the fact that some people just won't be able to make it. The almighty "they" says about 25% of your guests will say no if it's a local wedding; 50% if it's a destination wedding. You "over-invite" based on that fact. But people who you know won't make it, it's okay to invite them. I mean, don't invite everyone you ever met because that looks like you are fishing for gifts. But your great aunt who lives in Florida and doesn't travel, you can invite her. Sometimes, people just like to know that you're thinking of them. Sometimes, people just like to be included.

5. Don't feel obligated to invite people, just because they invited you.

If your college buddy got married seven years ago and you went to the wedding but haven't really talked to that friend in the last five years (besides a like or two on Instagram), don't invite them. You don't have to invite people.

A few years ago, my mom and I were the "last minute" people at someone's wedding. You know, the people who you ask last minute to fill seats. Some people are really honest about it; others feel bad and tell you the invite must have gotten lost in the mail but it's in three days and are you free? So when we were creating our list, I was wondering if I had to invite those people since I did go to their wedding. The answer was no. They didn't make it onto our guest list. I didn't ... and honestly, I don't know if those people actually even know I got married.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What are your tips for the perfect wedding guest list?

Gift Idea: Personalized Bridal Party Tote Bags

Your bridal party spends a lot of money to be in your wedding. From your shower to their outfits to the bachelorette party, it adds up. So it's customary to give them a thank you gift. But, realistically, the cost of that can add up too.

I found this really cute idea that's really great on the wallet. Personalized bridal party tote bags.

I actually saw bridal party tote bags on Pinterest, but I wasn't sure where they were from, so I searched around. There are a ton of choices out there, but the biggest variety I found was on CafePress. I mean, look how adorable this bridesmaid tote bag from CafePress is.

Plus, you can pick up a matching Maid of Honor tote bag, so hers is similar but still different.

Personally, I like this Mother of the Bride tote bag for my mom.

It's classic and simple and something she will love ... plus she can use it again and again when my brothers are getting ready to get married.

And of course, you'll want one for yourself.

 I saw this bride tote bag and it's just so cute. You just have to have it.

You're able to personalize the other bags as well, adding the names of your bridal party. I think this is great, especially for a bachelorette party. All the ones above are from CafePress. I actually ordered a ton of stuff from them for our wedding: water bottles, a picture frame for our ring bearer, mugs for thank you gifts for those who helped us at church, and luggage tags. The site sells so many products, and you can search through a ton of designs.

But if you're like me and you can't find what you wanted (I didn't like the ring bearer frames at all), you can actually personalize products with your own images. That was a really great way to bring my vision to life.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make these personalized bridal party totes for your wedding party?

Get A Free Wedding Invitation From MagnetStreet (Exclusive!)

This post was created in partnership with eAccountable. All opinions are my own.

I'm the most nervous person when it comes to ordering things online. I'm just afraid to spend a ton of money, only to find out that the product I ordered isn't the exact color I wanted. Or it looks nothing like the photo.

I would definitely have had a panic attack if that happened to my wedding invitations. I'm sure you would too. That's some of the most important stationery you will ever send.

Don't worry. MagnetStreet understands. And so do we at A Bride On A Budget. So we are joining together to give you a free wedding invitation.

How?

Head over to this link and you will see an image at the top of MagnetStreet's website.

Then, you can browse through MagnetStreet's website to find a wedding invitation design you like.You choose the text, images, fonts, colors, enclosures ... all the embellishments you want. You are actually designing your MagnetStreet wedding invitation sample exactly as you would for your complete order. Under "quantity" choose the number 1 and you can order just one.

You're unique code will be applied at checkout to make your order completely free.

I absolutely love MagnetStreet. We ordered our wedding programs and wedding thank you cards from the site and were just blown away by the quality of the products. Our recipients really loved them as well, which is most important.

If I was to design a free wedding invitation right now, I would choose the Twinkling Hearts design. It's my current favorite. Not in its current colors, but that's what's great about MagnetStreet. You can customize the colors to match your wedding. I loved that part of it an I'm sure you will too.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Which design did you choose for your free wedding invitation?

Get Bridal Guide Magazine For Free

One of the best gifts you can give an engaged woman is a wedding magazine. Seriously. There are tons of photos of dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids, there are articles about everything from losing the last five pounds to destination weddings to saving money. And each issue has a one-year timeline, so the bride can check off what she's done -- and see what she needs to do.

If you are engaged and you aren't reading a magazine, now is the time to get one.

Yes. Now. Literally.

Right now, you can get an issue of Bridal Guide magazine for free. Just click that link, enter your info, and your first issue should arrive in about six weeks.

Bridal Guide is actually one of the two magazine I received when I was planning my wedding. I got a bunch of great ideas from the magazine. It really is a huge help for anyone planning a wedding (or helping to plan a wedding).

BRIDAL BABBLE: Are you subscribing for yourself or for a friend?